Ghanaians Urged To Increase Awareness on Cyber Security

The Director General of the National Information Technology Agency (NITA), Mr. Jeff Konadu, has emphasized the need for Ghana to be extremely cautious of cyber security especially in this times that the country is taking every step to be electronically active (e-active).

He said his agency has identified threats that come as a result of a nation’s e-activeness and that they are doing all within their means to be ahead of time, especially on issues of cyber security. He has therefore advised the citizenry to increase their cyber awareness.

Mr. Konadu was speaking as a panelist at the ongoing technology summit in Accra dubbed Tech 360 Africa Summit.

He identified phishing as a major threat to the digital age and said it is among the easiest ways through which cyber-attacks are triggered and data stolen from individuals and organizations.

Phishing is the attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details and indirectly, money, often for malicious reasons, by disguising as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.

“We are doing our best as a state agency but individuals must also take extreme caution,” he stated.

Mr. Jeff-Konadu Director General of the National Information Technology Agency-NITA

Other panelists on the lamented about the fact that Ghana is currently churning out a lot of security engineers, on yearly basis, however not many provisions are there to integrate them into the system to make them useful.

“It is also important that these engineers work closely together to find out solutions that work in the interest of the country,” they noted.

The topic under discussion was “Cyber Security: A threat to Africa Digital Economy”.

Participants discussed the ever-growing danger of cyber security and its implications in a modern world. It was informed by the realization that Cyber security has become a threat to achieving full scale digital economy. The benefits of having a formidable system in place to check cyber security as well as challenges organisations are likely to face were also considered.

Other personalities on the panel included Caleb Afaglo of the MIS Division of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Eranest Darko-Mensah, the Chef Executive of Spearheard and Mr Tunder Coker, Chief Executive of Rack Center Nigeria.

The 4th Tech 360 Africa Summit provided a unique platform for regulatory bodies in Africa to take ICT bilateral partnership to the next level.

Participants are deliberating on the impact of technology innovation and rightful policies that can drive ICT penetration in Africa.

Opening the summit, a Deputy Minister of Communication, George Andah, revealed that the government has put a holistic National Cyber Security Policy and strategy document in place to ensure the safety of digital services. He said “As we increase the use of Digital services we need to protect our critical IT infrastructure”.

He said the Ministry intends to revise the existing Telecom policy so as to introduce new documents and dimensions.

The objective is to give direction to the National Communications Authority (NCA) to come out with plans to improve broadband access and services in line with the digitization of plans producing an eGovernment strategy paper to guide government’s approach to the digitization and eService delivery.

“This year’s summit is focusing on promoting Africa’s Digital Economy and will highlight the constraints and opportunities in the expensive ICT sector across Africa, and I am excited that your focus is perfect fit to the vision of HE President Akufo-Addo,” he told the organizers of the event- Instinct Wave.

The Summit will also run alongside the 7th Ghana Information Technology and Telecom Awards as well as the 2nd Africa Information Technology and Awards.